The rumors were that Windows Mobile 6.1 would be unveiled at CTIA today. We haven’t received any official word yet, but apparently it’s true, since PC Magazine has a review of it up since yesterday. According to the article, the OS still makes Windows Mobile the Editors’ Choice, so that’s a good thing.

There are apparently two launch devices: the Samsung Blackjack II, running the Standard version, and the AT&T Tilt, running the Professional / touch-screen version. If you don’t want to run out and buy one, free updates should be coming to your beloved device soon, too.

Here’s a quick list of enhancements / new features:

– “sliding panel” on the home screen, which lets you easily navigate categories
– Getting Started application
– Menu reordered to most recent apps instead of showing all of your applications
– cut, copy and paste for standard devices
– threaded SMS conversations
– Zoom Out feature in Pocket Internet Explorer that shows the whole page and lets you zoom in on a part you want
– 33 percent improvement in battery life when using Direct Push

There’s more under the hood, too, so be sure to check out the full review.I like what I’m seeing in 6.1 but I’ve also been playing around with new home screen and overall UI enhancements by third parties and have to say that 6.1 still might not be enough. That said, the 33 percent improvement in battery life when using Direct Push is HUGE! I’ve tested a bunch of Windows Mobile devices and the Motorola Q9h was the only one that performed battery-wise, the way I would expect.

Long ago I saw a preview of what the future of Windows Mobile could be. At the time it was running on a device that was actually shipping. It showed something similar to what Microsoft was offering interface-wise on the Toshiba Gigabeat. Why, many years later, we’re still seeing just these small improvements is beyond me. Of course, I know what it takes to get a product to market and all of the features that are left out because of time constraints, but right now we’re still seeing incremental improvements instead of the overhaul we should be seeing, not to mention that HTC and T-Mobile already shipped something similar to 6.1 in the T-Mobile Shadow. If some of these enhancements had been prioritized, since the new interface was running on shipping code at the time, we would have seen something a lot more impressive than what is being announced today. That said, I’m still happy to receive 6.1, it’s just not the leap I was hoping for.

Perhaps Windows Mobile 7 will finally bring to market what I saw years ago?

Stay tuned to Geek.com for the official Windows Mobile 6.1 announcement when it finally hits the wires.